Category: Hardware

Task: Purchase an SDrive-Max Floppy Emulator Needed: SDrive-Max Time: 10-15 minutes Introduction The ability to boot software from SD card devices makes using Atari computers a breeze. These devices allow you to load up lots of executables and ATR files on an SD card and

Task: Purchase an Atari 850 Interface Module Needed: Web browser Time: 15-30 minutes Introduction The Atari Serial Input/Ouput System or SIO was designed to allow the computer to communicate with peripherals such as the 810 or 1050 disk drive. An advantage of the SIO is

Task: Tips for Finding Local Atari Hardware and Software Needed: Persistence! Time: 15-30 minutes Introduction The easiest place to find Atari hardware and software is on eBay. However, even the most common Atari goodness is way overpriced. There is also the problem of shipping that

Task: Fun With The Atari Touch Tablet Needed: Atari Touch Tablet Time: 15-30 minutes Introduction I got an Atari Touch Tablet along with the Atariartist cartridge for Christmas back in the early 1980s. This was one of my favorite Atari gifts ever. I had so

Task: Load Cassette Games on Your Atari 2600 Needed: Arcadia / Starpath Supercharger, compatible cassette game Time: 10-15 mins Introduction One of the many limitations of the Atari 2600 video console system (VCS) was that it only had 128 bytes of RAM. This and the

Task: Connect Your Atari Computer to an LED Screen Needed: LED screen, connectors Time: 30-60 mins Introduction I previously posted some details on how to connect your Atari computer to an LCD screen using composite video or composite converted to S-video. What if you want

Task: Replace the Ribbon and Paper in an Atari 1025 Printer Needed: 1025 printer, ribbon, paper Time: 10-15 mins Introduction I never had an Atari printer back in the day. We had an Epson MX-80 dot matrix that worked quite well. So, I have been

Task: Purchase an Indus GT Disk Drive Needed: Web browser Time: 15-30 mins Introduction My favorite disk drive is the Atari 810. It was my fist and I love the aesthetics. However, the 810 could only read and write about 90k of data and was

Task: Make Custom Atari 2600 Cartridges Needed: Binary, label art Time: 30-60 mins Introduction When I finished my Atari 2600 homebrew game Gene Medic I couldn’t wait to make it ‘real’ by having an actual cartridge made. Fortunately, the folks down at Atari Age make

Task: Tips for Storing Atari Computers and Consoles Needed: Web browser Time: 10-15 mins Introduction I got most of my Atari collection in the early 2000s when it was cheap and somewhat plentiful. I could tell as I acquired and cleaned each item that many

Task: Test the RAM of an Atari 400 or 800 Needed: Atarimax MaxFlash or similar Time: 10-15 mins Introduction I remember being really interested in the diagnostic tests that were included in my friend’s new Atari 1200XL. These allowed you to test the RAM and other

Task: Backup Cartridges to Floppy Disk Using “The Pill” Needed: Floppy disks, disk drive, The Pill, The Pill software Time: 15-30 mins Introduction Software pirating was rampant back in the early 1980s and there were plenty of software and hardware tools that made this easy.

Task: Replace the Ribbon and Paper in an Atari 820 Printer Needed: Atari 820 printer with replacement ribbon and paper roll Time: 10-15 mins Introduction I never had an Atari 820 printer back in the day but have always wanted one because it beautifully matches

Task: Connect Your Atari Joystick to a PC Needed: Atari Joystick and a USB adapter Time: 10-15 minutes Introduction The Atari 400 and 800 were by far the best gaming computers when they hit the market. This was largely due to the awesome ANTIC graphics chip

Task: Purchase an Atarimax Maxflash Cartridge Needed: Atarimax Maxflash Catridge, USB Cartridge Programmer, A to A USB Cable, and Maxflash Studio Software Time: 30-60 mins Introduction I love the ease of use of cartridges compared to cassette or disk. Fortunately, there are some easy modern

Task: Purchase a Harmony Cartridge for the Atari 2600 Needed: Harmony Cartridge With SD or microSD Card Time: 10-15 mins Introduction When I was programming my Atari 2600 game “Gene Medic” I wanted to be able to test it on original hardware since there are

Task: Connect Your Atari Computer to a PC Needed: SIO2PC Time: 15-30 minutes Introduction Cartridges and floppy disks are great but sooner or later you will want to tap into the huge archive of software that is available on the internet. You can certainly boot

Task: Repair an Atari 1020 Printer Needed: 1020 printer, 3D printed gears Time: 30-60 minutes Introduction I had an Epson dot matrix printer with my Atari 800 back in the day. It served me well but wasn’t that great with graphics and was only black

Task: Identify and remove dangerous Atari power supply units and label the safe ones Needed: Labels and pen Time: 15-60 mins Introduction If you are like me and have a number of different Atari home computer models and peripherals then you also have a large

Task: clean an Atari 810/1050 disk drive head Needed: Phillips-head screwdriver, Q-tip, alcohol Time: 10-15 minutes Introduction I started out back in the early 80s with an Atari 400 computer and a 410 cassette recorder for storing programs. Working with the 410 was tedious and

Task: Purchase an Atari 8-Bit Computer Needed: $ Time: 1-2 hours (or longer) Introduction If you are reading this website it is very likely that you already have one or more Atari 8-bit computers. However, if you don’t own an Atari, and would like to,